Ooh, I think I might go for Henman. I know his form of tennis was gradually on the way out in his prime, but he's the one person on that list that genuinely stands apart for me. It's a shame he could never quite snatch that Wimbledon title, especially in that year against Ivanisevic/Rafter..

Ooh, I think I might go for Henman. I know his form of tennis was gradually on the way out in his prime, but he's the one person on that list that genuinely stands apart for me. It's a shame he could never quite snatch that Wimbledon title, especially in that year against Ivanisevic/Rafter..

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Yeah, it's a shame he couldn't have at least reached a final. 6 attempts but never quite managed it. Wimbledon 2001 was his best chance. 2-1 up and in control against ivanisevic and then came the bloody rain. I think he could have beaten rafter in the final. So many what ifs. If only they had a roof then. Henman is one of the best volleyers I've ever seen. On a par with Sampras in my opinion.

Rios was an amazing player. Too bad he had injuries and liked to paryt too much. Lucky me I saw a Safin/Rios match in Toronto. Safin won and Rios was having back problems them.

He married 3 times and has about 10 children 3 of which are triplets. He was always in trouble. His mind was not always on tennis.

Ríos' career has been marked by a number of controversies.
After achieving the number one in singles, an Argentine reporter ask him what it felt like to be at the same status as Guillermo Vilas; he answered "Vilas? Who's Vilas? He was never No. 1."[citation needed]
He was fined US$10,000 for speeding during the 1998 Stuttgart Indoor tournament.[7]
In a confusing incident, he ran over his physical trainer, Manuel Astorga, with his jeep, leaving him gravely injured in the foot. Astorga was later fired as trainer.[7]
After a magazine published some photos of him dancing seductively with a woman at a Paris disco, his girlfriend (later to be his first wife), Giuliana Sotela, broke up with him. During a Davis Cup press conference, Ríos read a letter, asking Sotela for forgiveness. He ended the press conference in tears.[8]
He was accused by his second wife, María Eugenia Larraín, of throwing her out of his car while driving to visit his daughter in Costa Rica. Larraín arrived at Santiago's airport in dramatic fashion, in a wheelchair and showing multiple bruises on her legs. He claimed those bruises were caused by falling while skiing.[7]
He was arrested in Rome in 2001 after he punched a taxi driver in the nose and then had a fight with the policemen arresting him.[8]
In 2003, while training for a Davis Cup tie with Ecuador, he allegedly urinated on some men in a La Serena bar's bathroom and was later expelled from his hotel after being accused of swimming nude. As a consequence, the Chilean team missed a flight to Ecuador the following day. He later apologized for the incidents.[7][9]
In 2003, he and a friend were expelled from a Santiago bar after insulting other clients and being involved in a brawl with some waiters. Both were arrested and later released.[7]
He reportedly told Monica Seles to move her "fat ***" while on a lunch queue, but he has denied this.[8]
During the 1997 Wimbledon tournament he commented that grass was for "cows and soccer" and not suitable for tennis play.[8]
He was disqualified from the 2000 Mercedes-Benz Cup tennis tournament in Los Angeles, California during a first round match with Gouichi Motomura of Japan and fined US$5,000 for saying "**** you" to the chair umpire.[8]
During a post-match interview at the Basel tournament, he insulted a journalist under his breath after she asked him whether he had Native American ancestry.[10]
He tried to moon some reporters who were recording him while partying outside his apartment in Reñaca.[8]
He fired his coach Larry Stefanki shortly after he became World No. 1, claiming that he wanted to go in a different direction.
He won the Prix Citron 'award' several different years (many in a row) for being the most disagreeable player on tour.

Don't see how he could have come close twice when he only reached one final?

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He had 2 match points on his own serve. A 2 set lead. He was up a break 4 times in the 5th set and served for it twice.

He's the only guy in the open era to reach match point in a final without winning, he was unquestionably closer than anyone else on that list to winning a major without actually winning one, on account of being inches away from not being in contention for this poll at all.

Nalby is one of the more gifted players to ever hold a racquet. He made all GS semi-finals, he is one of the 3 players (Safin and Rafa being the others) that could beat the BEST Federer. On his best, he could make ANY player look like a rookie (quote by Rafa).

Too bad he always lacked mental consistency, gone into serious injuries later in his career and lets face it, he was really lazy to practice and get in form.

Rios, Coria and Haas would be my 2nd options.

PS: I will never forget how he let go that semis at USO 03 against Roddick being 2 sets love and one match point. That was definitely HIS GS, a clown Ferrero was waiting in the final. Oh god...

He had 2 match points on his own serve. A 2 set lead. He was up a break 4 times in the 5th set and served for it twice.

He's the only guy in the open era to reach match point in a final without winning, he was unquestionably closer than anyone else on that list to winning a major without actually winning one, on account of being inches away from not being in contention for this poll at all.

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Oh ok, I see what you mean. I read your post like he came close twice as in he played in 2 finals.

Nalby is one of the more gifted players to ever hold a racquet. He made all GS semi-finals, he is one of the 3 players (Safin and Rafa being the others) that could beat the BEST Federer. On his best, he could make ANY player look like a rookie (quote by Rafa).

Too bad he always lacked mental consistency, gone into serious injuries later in his career and lets face it, he was really lazy to practice and get in form.

Rios, Coria and Haas would be my 2nd options.

PS: I will never forget how he let go that semis at USO 03 against Roddick being 2 sets love and one match point. That was definitely HIS GS, a clown Ferrero was waiting in the final. Oh god...

Nalby is one of the more gifted players to ever hold a racquet. He made all GS semi-finals, he is one of the 3 players (Safin and Rafa being the others) that could beat the BEST Federer. On his best, he could make ANY player look like a rookie (quote by Rafa).

Too bad he always lacked mental consistency, gone into serious injuries later in his career and lets face it, he was really lazy to practice and get in form.

Rios, Coria and Haas would be my 2nd options.

PS: I will never forget how he let go that semis at USO 03 against Roddick being 2 sets love and one match point. That was definitely HIS GS, a clown Ferrero was waiting in the final. Oh god...

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Ferrero might have beat him. He was in prime form that year, beat #1 Agassi in the semifinals, won the French Open, was ranked world no 1 after the US open, year-ended no 3.

Thomas Enqvist should also be considered... Never a great GS player, still he made it to 1 final and a few QFs. The bright spot on his resume are his 3 MS shields and 19 singles titles, not sure any of the other contenders come close to that. Also a regular top 10 player over the 1995-2001 period, making it as high as #4, would certainly have achieved even more if not for all the injuries.

Ferrero might have beat him. He was in prime form that year, beat #1 Agassi in the semifinals, won the French Open, was ranked world no 1 after the US open, year-ended no 3.

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Are you kidding me ? Ferrero was a clown. Roddick destroyed him in that finals. He took his chances against poor rivals on his slams results. Credits to him for that, not many players take that great opportunities, but you cannot say he was a really dangerous player. He even lost against Argentinan Agustin Calleri in the Davis Cup SF 2003 at his own floor while being number 1. Honestly, in 14 years watching tennis, Ferrero was the the weakest number 1 player I have ever seen.

He won the French open to that guy Verkerk that came from nowhere and beat Coria in the semis (after that he completely disapeared from earh) in a dream match. Coria would have walked in the park against Juan Carlos if he hadn't choked against that unknown guy.

It's clearly Mecir. In the late 80's Miami was regarded as the '5th Slam' - he won that over Lendl. In the same year 1987 he also won the WCT finals over McEnroe. The following year he won the Olympics. Combine that with the US Open finals in 1986 and the Australian Open finals in 1989 (losing both to Lendl) - then you have a makings of a really good career. A very dangerous player indeed. Could play well on any surface.

Are you kidding me ? Ferrero was a clown. Roddick destroyed him in that finals. He took his chances against poor rivals on his slams results. Credits to him for that, not many players take that great opportunities, but you cannot say he was a really dangerous player. He even lost against Argentinan Agustin Calleri in the Davis Cup SF 2003 at his own floor while being number 1. Honestly, in 14 years watching tennis, Ferrero was the the weakest number 1 player I have ever seen.

He won the French open to that guy Verkerk that came from nowhere and beat Coria in the semis (after that he completely disapeared from earh) in a dream match. Coria would have walked in the park against Juan Carlos if he hadn't choked against that unknown guy.

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Ferrero defeated very good players the three times he got to a GS final.

In 2002 RG, he defeated Coria 6-2 6-3 6-3, then he defeated Gaudio, after that he defeated Agassi in the QF and he defeated Safin in the SF (and he lost to Albert Costa in the final).

In 2003 RG, he defeated Felix Mantilla (a tough claycourter) in R16, he defeated Fernando Gonzalez in QF, he defeated Albert Costa (previous year RG champion) in the SF and, yes, he defeated Verkerk easily in the final (Verkerk was playing good tennis though, he defeated Carlos Moya in the QF and Guillermo Coria in the SF in straight sets).

By the way, I think Ferrero would have beaten Coria anyway (both players faced in the 2003 Monte Carlo final, 2 months earlier, and Ferrero won 6-2 6-2 ; up to that point, Coria had never won a single set against Ferrero).

In the 2003 US OPEN, Ferrero defeated Todd Martin in R16, then he defeated Lleyton Hewitt (in four sets) in the QF, after that he defeated "then nº1 in the world" Andre Agassi (in four sets) in the SF, and finally he lost 6-3 7-6 6-3 to a great Roddick in the final.